5 Easy Exercises to Do at Work

An assembly line worker and an ice cream scooper can both attest to the importance of a good wrist stretch. Many jobs require repetitive motions of the hands and wrists, and anyone who's ever suffered the punishment of writing "I will respect my teacher" 100 times knows the pain of writer's cramp.

Here's what you can do:

Holding your arms straight out in front of you, flex one wrist upward so that your palm is facing away from you and your fingers are pointed toward the ceiling. Take your other hand and pull the fingers of the flexed hand toward you until you feel the pull on the underside of your forearm. Switch hands and repeat.

Do the same exercise but with your wrist flexed downward; your other hand should pull on your fingers until you feel the pull in your forearm. Switch hands and repeat.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), carpal tunnel syndrome, a painful condition resulting from a compressed median nerve, is three times more common among assembly line workers than it is among desk workers.